Before the World Cup draw
Officially: DFB-Elf in draw pot one – strong opponents threaten
November 25, 2025 – 7:31 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
When the groups are drawn for the 2026 tournament, Germany is in the pot with other big names – but strong opponents still await.
It had become apparent, now it’s official: The German national soccer team has been placed first in the draw for the groups for the 2026 World Cup on December 5th in Washington DC – but can still face strong opponents in the preliminary round. This emerges from the procedural plan for the draw, which the world association Fifa published on Tuesday evening.
The DFB team avoids the absolute top teams in the world as well as the hosts USA, Canada and Mexico. In addition to the participating nations and Germany, European champions Spain, defending champions Argentina, the 2018 world champions from France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium are in draw pot one. Austria finds itself in draw pot two and is therefore a potential German opponent in the group of four.
For the six teams that have not yet qualified and will play out the final participants in the tournament via the play-offs, six placeholders were allocated to the fourth draw pot. This means that the DFB team is at least at risk of a duel with big names like Italy or Denmark, who still have to fight for their place in the World Cup.
The lottery pots at a glance:
Draw pot 1: USA, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Draw pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, IR Iran, Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Draw pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Draw pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, UEFA Playoff A (Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina), UEFA Playoff B (Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, Albania), UEFA Playoff C (Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Kosovo), UEFA Playoff D (Denmark, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Ireland), Fifa Playoff 1 (New Caledonia, Jamaica, Democratic Republic of Congo), Fifa Playoff 2 (Bolivia, Suriname, Iraq)